Holmdel School Reopening Plans To Be Discussed At August Meeting

HOLMDEL, NJ – Long-awaited school reopening procedures for Holmdel Township Schools will be unveiled at an August webinar, according to The Journal NJ. The Zoom meeting will take place on Monday, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Holmdel Township Schools, which include Village Elementary School, Indian Hill School, W.R. Satz School and Holmdel High School, have been shuttered since March. The district is slated to begin fall classes on Sept. 14.

The meeting will be hosted by the Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU), a Holmdel organization devoted to environmental conservation, natural resource protection and sustainable planning. The webinar will be presented by Holmdel interim superintendent Dr. LeRoy Seitz, who will detail the district’s reopening plans as well as the Holmdel 2020 Initiative.

In a July 8 letter to district families, Seitz stated that the Board of Education has been meeting in recent weeks to develop a reopening plan, with additional school-based committees to form soon. Reopening information and a Q & A widget will be added to the district website shortly, according to Seitz.

The interim superintendent briefly described what Holmdel schools may look like come September:

"All students and staff will be required to wear face-covering when physical distancing of six feet is not possible unless a student or staff member is prohibited to do so because of a medical condition," wrote Seitz. "Our goal is to have our students in school as much as possible while ensuring the safety of everyone."

The announcement comes as New Jersey schools scramble to draft and finalize reopening plans for the upcoming school year. At a Monday press briefing, Gov. Murphy noted that the state will reopen schools in-person only if done safely.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli noted that young adults are the fastest growing group in the state testing positive for the virus. Read more: New NJ Coronavirus Concerns: Young People And Schools

"We’re going to do this. We're going to do it right, responsibly, and only if we can be convinced that we can protect all lives here, the kids, the teachers, the administrators, the parents and grandparents to whom these kids will go home to," Murphy said on Monday. "And we're trying to solve things still."

The Aug. 17 conference will be open to the public. To RSVP for the webinar, email Karen at karsyv356@gmail.com. Participants will receive a link to register and join the online meeting in early August.

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